Amelia Opie
]] Amelia Opie, née Alderson (12 November 1769 – 2 December 1853), was an English author who published numerous novels in the Romantic Period of the early 19th century, through 1828. Life and work Amelia Alderson was the daughter of James Anderson , a physician, and Amelia Briggs of Norwich, England. She was a cousin of notable judge Edward Hall Anderson, with whom she corresponded throughout her life, and also a cousin of notable artist Henry Perronet Briggs. Miss Alderson had inherited radical principles and was an ardent admirer of John Horne Tooke. She was close to activists John Philip Kemble, Sarah Siddons, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. Marriage and family In 1798 Alderson married John Opie, the painter. The nine years of her married life before her husband's death were happy, although her husband did not share her love of society. With his encouragement, in 1801 she completed a novel entitled Father and Daughter, which showed genuine fancy and pathos. Writing career Amelia Opie published regularly after that. In 1802 she completed a volume of verse. Additional books followed: Adeline Mowbray (1804), Simple Tales (1806), Temper (1812), Tales of Real Life (1813), Valentine's Eve (1816), Tales of the Heart (1818), and Madeline (1822). Opie wrote The dangers of Coquetry at age 18. Her novel Father and Daughter (1801) is about misled virtue and family reconciliation. Encouraged by Mary Wollstonecraft, she wrote Adeline Mowbray (1804), an exploration of relationship between mother and daughter. Adeline Mowbray uses frank language to deliver the moral that the desires of women as much as those of men can override their families' wishes and thus jeopardise their future Amelia Opie divided her time between London and Norwich. She was a friend of writers Sir Walter Scott, Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Madame de Stael. In 1825, through the influence of Joseph John Gurney, she joined the Society of Friends. After a book entitled Detraction Displayed and contributions to periodicals, she wrote nothing more. The rest of her life was spent travelling and working at charity. Even late in life, Opie maintained connections with writers, for instance receiving George Borrow as a guest. After a visit to Cromer, a seaside resort on the North Norfolk coast, she caught a chill and retired to her bedroom. A year later on 2 December 1853, she died at Norwich. Ms. Opie was said to retain her vivacity to the last. She was buried at the Gildencroft Quaker Cemetery, Norwich. Recognition A biography of her, A Life by Miss C.L. Brightwell, was published in 1854. Publications Poetry * Maid of Corinth. 1801 * Elegy to the Memory of the Duke of Bedford. 1802 * Poems. 1803 * Lines to General Kosciusko. 1803 * Song to Stella. 1803 * The Warrior's Return. 1808 * The Black Man's Lament. 1826 * Lays for the Dead. 1834 Novels and Stories * Dangers of Coquetry. (published anonymously) 1790 * The Father and Daughter. 1801 * Adeline Mowbray. 1804 * Simple Tales. 1806 * Temper 1812 * First Chapter of Accidents. 1813 * Tales of Real Life. 1813 * Valentine's Eve. 1816 * New Tales. 1818 * Tales of the Heart. 1820 * Madeline. 1822 * Illustrations of Lying. 1824 * Tales of the Pemberton Family for Children. 1825 * The Last Voyage. 1828 * Detraction Displayed. 1828 * Miscellaneous Tales. (12 Vols.) 1845-7 Biographies * Memoir of John Opie. 1809 * Sketch of Mrs. Roberts. 1814 Miscellaneous * Recollections of Days in Holland. 1840 References * "Opie, Amelia". British Authors of the Nineteenth Century H.W. Wilson Co., New York, 1936 * * * *Howard, Susan K. "Amelia Opie", British Romantic Novelists, 1789–1832. Ed. Bradford K. Mudge. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. * *Kelly, Gary. English Fiction of the Romantic Period, 1789-1830. London: Longman, 1989. *King, Shelley and John B. Pierce. "Introduction", The Father and Daughter with Dangers of Coquetry. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2003. *Simmons, Jr., James R. "Amelia Opie". British Short-Fiction Writers, 1800–1880. Ed. John R. Greenfield. Detroit: Gale Research, 1996. *Spender, Dale. Mothers of the Novel: 100 Good Women Writers Before Jane Austen. London: Pandora, 1986. *St. Clair, William. The Godwins and Shelleys: The Biography of a Family. London: Faber and Faber, 1989. *Staves, Susan. "British Seduced Maidens", Eighteenth-Century Studies 12 (1980–81):109–34. *Ty, Eleanor. Empowering the Feminine: The Narratives of Mary Robinson, Jane West, and Amelia Opie, 1796–1812. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998. External links ;Poems * Selected Poetry of Amelia Opie (1769-1853) at Representative Poetry Online. ;About * Amelia Opie and Norwich * * OPIE, MRS. AMELIA, Dictionary of national biography, Vol. 42, 1895, pages 226-230 * Brightwell, Cecilia Lucy,[http://books.google.com/books?id=_2AJAAAAQAAJ Memorials of the life of Amelia Opie], London: Longman, Brown, & Co., 1854. Category:English novelists Category:English Quakers Category:People from Norwich Category:1769 births Category:1853 deaths Category:19th-century poets Category:English poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:19th-century women writers Category:English women writers